“The attackers remained inside and firing subsided as military surrounded the mall hours after the attack. People continued to trickle out from hiding places within the Westgate mall, which is frequented by expatriates and rich Kenyans in Nairobi's affluent Westlands neighbourhood.” .

The attackers have been isolated and have been forced in an area on one of the floors, according to reports.

Witnesses at the mall described hearing explosions and gunfire as they fled, leaving behind blood, dead and wounded in what could be one of the worst terrorist attacks in the Kenya’s history.

Reportedly the attackers used AK-47 rifles and threw grenades inside the mall.

According to Marie Harf, a Kenyan government official, several Americans were among the wounded. However he declined to elaborate citing privacy reasons.

Shabab, the violent Somali militant group that carried out other attacks in Kenya, declared in a series of Twitter posts that it members were responsible for the massacre, according to reports.

“Benson Kibue, the Nairobi police chief, told The Associated Press that it was a terrorist attack and that there were probably no more than 10 gunmen involved.”

Following the attack on Kenyan Mall, Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud sent condolences to the people of Kenya.

"These heartless acts against defenceless civilians, including innocent children, are beyond the pale and cannot be tolerated. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenya in its time of grief for these lives lost and the many injured," he said.